Batty Little Secret
by Karebear49
Summary: A series of oneshots about everyone's favorite vampire/fleshie couple (I know, I suck at summaries). Suggestions welcome!
1. What if?

**So, I decided to make my next story a series of oneshots before writing an actual sequel to He Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (which I am going to write, don't worry). Brace yourself because the first one's chock full of angst.**

…

"Thatch! Thatch, help me!"

Thatch watched as Carly thrashed helplessly in the flytrap's grip, a vine slowly wrapping around her throat.

"Hang on, Carly!" he cried, changing into his bat form. He darted toward the plant, preparing to sink his fangs into the vine, before being swatted down by a leaf.

As he crashed to the ground, the plant gave him a sly smirk, as if to say, _Nice try, Bat Boy,_ and dropped Carly into its gaping mouth.

"NO!"

…

This was the last thing Thatch remembered before hitting his head on his coffin. He raised the lid to make sure he hadn't woken anyone (Wolfie jerked awake for a few seconds and mumbled, "Squirrel," but that's about it), and flew across the hall to the bathroom.

He splashed cold water on his face and gazed into his nonexistent reflection in the mirror, which he didn't need to see to know his forehead was bruised. This happened every time he had the dream, and he'd been suffering through it for who knows how long. He knew why, though- ever since he started dating Carly, he was in a constant state of worry. The incident at the play had been just a prank, but what if it wasn't? What if he hadn't made it in time?

What if he'd lost his fleshie girl?

Hearing a faint yawn in the hallway, he stepped out to see none other than Carly herself, somehow managing to look as lovely as ever even with bedhead and the mismatched shirt and shorts she was using for pajamas.

"Oh, hey Thatch," she said, "What are you doing up?"

"I just, you know," he replied, struggling to think of an alibi, "I needed to clear my mind."

"Well, don't clear too much out," she joked, "We have a history test tomorrow."

"Believe me, I've got much more to worry about than that," he said. Then, without thinking, he blurted, "Remember when you made me think a giant flytrap had killed you?"

"Uh, considering it happened about a week ago, yes," she said, "it is still fresh in my memory."

As if to reassure himself that she was really there, he quickly wrapped his arms around her. "Please never do anything like that again," he whispered into her hair.

"I wasn't planning on it," she replied, surprised.

"No, I mean it, Carly," he continued. He didn't know what had come over him, but at this point, he couldn't stop. "That night, I thought I'd lost one of the only people I really care about and now, if I ever let anything else happen to you, I'll never-"

He would've said more, but had no choice but to stop when Carly placed her lips on his. All at once, he realized he'd been telling her what she already knew. He'd already shown her that he'd do anything to protect her.

"Thatch," she said, hugging him back, "I know I might've gone too far when I did that, but there's no need to freak out over me.

Because I know as long as I've got you, I've got nothing to worry about."

…

 **This was partially based on a headcanon I have (not just for Thatch, but for vampires in general in this universe) that whenever vampires fall in love, they get super protective of the other person.**

 **If there's anything in particular you want to see in this, feel free to leave a suggestion.**


	2. It Girl

It Girl

When it came to romance at Scare School, it wasn't hard to tell that Slither and Dummygirl were inseparable. You would typically find them feeding each other grubs at lunch, or passing each other notes and flirtatiously gossiping during class.

Every encounter between the two would result in mixed reactions from other students. Most rolled their eyes and muttered, "Get a room," but some found their relationship endearing, like Mickey and Monaco, who would often sigh dramatically around them and complain about wanting something like what they have.

"I really wish they would save the PDA for after school," Mantha groaned during History, "I couldn't concentrate in Science because of them."

"Yeah, but you've gotta admit, it's kinda sweet," replied Casper, "Besides them, it's rare to see any kind of romantic activity around here." _How ironic,_ he thought, _If they only knew about Thatch and Carly, I'm sure that would be different._

"You know, considering he's the most popular kid in school," Triclops whispered to Mosshead, "you would think that Thatch would be one half of Scare School's power couple."

"Where is Thatch, anyway," he wondered.

He made the mistake of saying this to where Ra could hear him. "Uh, he definitely didn't cut class to make out with his girlfriend," he blurted, "…that he doesn't have."

Wolfie kicked Ra in the shins under his desk as Mrs. Hopper asked, "And speaking of absentee students, does anyone know where Carly is?"

"She's sick, Mrs. Hopper," Mantha quickly lied, glaring at Ra, "She has a bad case of Blabbermouth Flu."

"Oh, well," the teacher said, "Poor thing. Anyway, everyone open your tomes to page 915."

Casper, Ra, Mantha, and Wolfie glanced around the room for signs of suspicion, but luckily no one paid any mind to Ra's remark.

 _That was too close,_ they each thought, breathing a sigh of relief.

…

 **I had to throw in something with Slither X Dummygirl here. Oh, and if you're wondering where Thatch and Carly are, they're currently making out in the janitor's closet (but you didn't here that from me.).**


	3. Misunderstanding

Misunderstanding

Scaring assignments in Deedstown are, for most creatures, the best part of a typical day at Scare School. For Casper, it gives him an excuse to hang out with his BFF (Best Fleshie Friend) Jimmy; for Thatch, it gave him an excuse to do what he does best; and in this case, for Carly, it gave her an excuse to visit family and old friends.

During this particular assignment, Thatch was on a roll, scaring fleshies left and right (and up and down in his bat form). He laughed triumphantly as a blonde-haired boy wearing a green beanie jumped, screamed, and fell backwards into the park fountain. _Too easy,_ he thought. As the bell rang, signaling the students to return to the ship, Thatch looked around and spotted one more victim to scare, two fleshie kids chatting on a bench.

But as he snuck up closer to them and got a clearer sound of their voices, he noticed that Carly was one of them, and the other one was that Jimmy kid. And in his opinion, they were getting a little too chummy with one another.

He held his breath every time she laughed at something he said, and when he put his hand on her shoulder, he had to fight the urge to come out of hiding and knock his daylights out. "I think the bell just rang," she eventually said, "I should go."

"Say hi to Casper for me," he called back as she left.

Back on the boat, Carly sat in the back row across from Thatch, close enough to be together without seeming suspicious. But this time, all of her attempts to discreetly flirt with him seemed to fall on deaf ears. "Thatch," she whispered, "everything okay?"

He didn't respond. He didn't even look at her. And he didn't say a word the whole way back.

…

The rest of the day, Carly wondered why Thatch was avoiding her. She'd try to talk to him, but he'd just brush her off as if he didn't hear her. She sent him at least five text messages, but received no replies. Finally, she received one herself from him that simply said, "Meet me by the dock at 9:30."

Once she arrived at the dock where Cappy was snoring away on the ship, she waited with slight impatience before Thatch finally showed up. "Okay, I know we agreed to keep things secret," she began, "but you haven't said a word to me all day. What's going on?"

"We've only been dating for a few weeks," he said, "and you're already tired of me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not enough for you anymore," he continued," You'd rather hold hands with Casper's stupid friends than me now?"

Carly's eyes lit up with realization, but instead of retaliating like he'd expected her to, she surprised him.

She started laughing.

"You really think I would ever cheat on you," she asked, "Thatch, you cute idiot, I love you too much to ever do something like that." She kissed him on the cheek for good measure, and that was enough for him.

"So, you're sure there's nothing going on with you and Jimmy," he said.

"Of course not," she replied, "He's my cousin."


	4. The Best Thing That's Ever Been Mine

**Ugh! I did it again!**

 **So sorry, everyone. I've been under a tail-load of stress lately, but I think most of it has been resolved by now.**

 **But enough about me; you wanna read the story. Enjoy!**

…

The Best Thing That's Ever Been Mine

They say there's a first time for everything, and Thatch and Carly's relationship is no exception. First date, first kiss…

First fight.

"Could you maybe ease up on the teasing when we're around your friends," Carly suggested one night, "I'm getting kinda tired of washing rotten apple mush out of my hair."

"Well, I don't want them to be suspicious," Thatch said, "and everyone knows I have a reputation to uphold."

"Are you saying your reputation is more important than me," exclaimed Carly, tears welling up in her eyes.

Instantly, Thatch realized he had made a mistake with his word choice. It made him sound arrogant, self-centered…just like something he would say.

"You know what," Carly said when he didn't respond, "don't even bother answering."

When she took off running, he fought himself for the right thing to say to her. And he was running out of time, because she was heading for the rowboat.

"Carly, wait," he called, "I know I just hurt your feelings, but it hurts me even more to see you cry. Sometimes, I hate being who I am."

Despite his efforts, her pace didn't slow. So, surprising both her and himself, he reached down into the deepest, darkest, depths of his heart.

"When I first met you, a little part of me changed. Being with you, I've done so many things I would never be caught dead doing otherwise. You're my best friend, Carly, and…I love you."

She finally forced herself to turn around and meet his eyes, now glinting slightly with tears. In the time they've been together, this was the first time he'd ever actually told her, word for word, that he loved her.

That was all it took for her to run back into his arms. She began sobbing about how she loved him too, that she was sorry, that she overreacted.

"Shh, it's okay, Carly," Thatch told her, stroking her hair, "I'm not mad at you, and I'm glad you're not mad at me. I promise, I'll go easy on you from now on."

As they melted into each other, he no longer felt like the same Thatch who tripped Pumpkinhead during gym or who pushed Wolfie into Blodge just because he was in his way. He just felt like a vamp in love.


	5. This is Halloween Part 1

This is Halloween

Thatch was the most fearless (and feared) creature in all of Scare School. Over the years, he had come face to face with many scary entities-bog monsters, bunnies, the dentist-without so much as flinching. But he had yet to encounter the most unspeakable horror known to man-meeting his girlfriend's parents.

Fortunately, Halloween was three days away, and a party was being thrown just down the street from Carly's house.

Thatch rolled his eyes as he passed by the Bradley house. The Creature Catcher was sitting on his porch, trying in vain to regain control of his devices. "I'm telling you, Rebecca," he told his wife, "this thing always goes haywire around this time of year."

With no need to evade the Catcher's fruitless pursuit of creatures, Thatch transformed into a bat and made his way to 419 Canary Lane. Sneaking in through a second-story window, he snuck down the hall to Carly's bedroom door ("first on the left," she had said). "Psst," he hissed at the door, "Carly, it's me. Can we please get this over with?"

"Thatch? You're early," she replied, "I've just barely started on my makeup."

"Well, hurry. I've been anxious about this all day."

"Thatch, it's just my parents. It's not like the minute you say, 'Hi,' they're going to start shoving garlic down your throat."

"Oh, thanks for putting _that_ image in my head."

"I'm just saying. It'll be fine, Thatch. Don't worry."

He wished he could tell her that it wasn't that easy. He had been dreading this day from the moment it was planned. He forced himself to take a deep breath and relax. All he had to do was shake her father's hand, her mom would probably want to take a few pictures, and then they'd be on their merry way, but he couldn't stop thinking about all the ways he could mess this up.

"Carly, are you almost ready," her mother called from downstairs, "Who are you talking to?"

"It's just my boyfriend, Mom," she called back, "We'll be down in a minute."

"We?" her dad added, "You mean he's already here? And he's upstairs? With you?!"

"Calm down, Dad," she said, slightly irritated at his outburst, "He's just waiting in the hall." Then, to Thatch, "Okay. You can open the door now."

When he did, he was not ready for the sight in front of him. Carly's skin was a pale gray, and her hair was dyed black with a white stripe down the middle similar to Triclops's. She was wearing a black robe, red contact lenses, and the cherry on top, fake vampire fangs. Suddenly, Thatch's nerves ebbed away.

"Well," she said, "How do I look?"

He fell to one knee at her feet. "Marry me."

"Hey, slow your roll, Fangs," she giggled, "Be glad my dad didn't hear you say that."

"Carly!"

"We're coming, dad," she yelled back, "Now remember, Thatch, just be cool. It'll be over before you know it, and then we can go to the party."

When they made it downstairs, their "costumes" were met with rigorous applause, sincere from her mom and sarcastic from her dad. "Look at you," her mother exclaimed, "Carly, you look adorable!"

"Mom," she protested, "I'm a vampire. Vampires are not adorable, they're scary."

"I don't know, Carly," Thatch added, "I did melt a little when I first saw you in that get-up."

As if just noticing him, her mom held out her hand for him and said, "Oh, where are my manners?"

Shaking her hand, he told her, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Bradford. My name is Thatch."

"Quite a name," her dad added under his breath.

"Richard," her mom said, glaring at him. "I don't think I've seen you around town. Do we know your parents?"

"No, actually, I just moved here," Thatch said, "from Transylvania."

Receiving shocked looks from them and a simultaneous, "What," Carly reacted quickly.

"He said 'Pennsylvania," she said, "Thatch just moved from Pittsburgh about a week ago." Nudging him, she asked, "Didn't you, sweetie?" He nodded timidly in reply.

"So, _Thatch,"_ her dad said, "Seems like you've been having fun with my daughter."

" _Richard!"_ her mom hissed at him, " _Be nice!"_

Glancing at the clock, Carly changed the subject. "Hey, it's already seven thirty. We're gonna be late."

As they were heading out the door, her dad whispered in Thatch's ear, "I've got my eye on you, Junior."

When they were finally far enough from the house, Carly said, "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure," Thatch replied, "because I'm sure your dad hates me."

"Oh, no he doesn't," she assured him, "That's just how dads are. And anyway, that's not important now." As they approached the residence of the party, she added, "What matters now is that we enjoy ourselves. Now come on, it's party time!"

…

 **A part 2 should be posted eventually, if not soon. Hope you enjoyed, and happy Halloween!**


End file.
